Florida Golf Monthly

Jacksonville's Mark Brunell- The Jaguars Pro-Bowl Quarterback Gets Ready for His Golf Season.

To most golfers, the game of golf is a challenge that must be met. It draws the determining line between success and failure. Although it's called a game, golfers know the truth. Golf is a passion play that challenges every bit of one's mettle.

Then there are those few who believe the game of golf is really a game - and just a game. It's an activity in which one participates solely for relaxation and enjoyment, to be savored rather than attacked. Most who view golf in this way also know what real athletic passion is all about, and Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell ranks among them.

Brunell's day-to-day athletic passion takes the form of dashing beyond the grasp and trampling feet of a 295-pound onrushing behemoth whose sole desire is to maul him from stem to sternum. For a man who faces such blatant terror week after week, golf, with all its attending frustrations and pitfalls, offers pure relaxation.

"I look at football to be so competitive," says Brunell. "It's my job and I have to be focused on it. True, golf is competitive, but not like football. I like spending four hours on the golf course relaxing with my friends and playing a friendly game of golf."

And it's no mystery that many NFL players raise tons of cash for charities while they relax on the course in celebrity golf tournaments. So it comes as no surprise that Brunell himself will host a charity tournament in Jacksonville for the benefit of the Wolfson Children's Hospital. However, unlike many professional athletes who participate in such events for the publicity, Brunell truly enjoys the experience.

"I just like playing golf," he says. "These tournaments are a lot of fun. You get to make some friends around the league, and it's like a tradeoff. You play in their tournament and they come play in yours. It all works out very well. It's hard to make all the tournaments, but you do the best you can."

In addition to hosting his own tournament, Brunell plans to take his golf interest to a new level when he travels to New Jersey this summer to play in the Senior PGA Tours' Cadillac NFL Golf Classic. "I've never played in a pro-am like that," he says. "I'm looking forward to it. I've been invited the past couple of years, but haven't had the chance to make it. This year, I'll definitely be there. I know a lot of the Senior Tour players live in this area, but the only pros I know are Mark McCumber and Jim Furyk."

Brunell's current handicap hovers around the 12 mark, perhaps the most precarious handicap known to man. A 12 indicates a a golfer has just enough talent to explode and shoot a low number, but it's high enough to get a few extra strokes in any match. The amazing thing is Brunell acquired this menacing handicap on his own. He's a self-made golfer.

"I've never had an official lesson in my life," he says with a chuckle. "I play the game by instinct. I wish I could play more than the once a week. I usually play during the off-season, but playing in the NFL has become a full-time job, and there are a lot of constraints."

At times Brunell looks back with nostalgic envy at his formative years when golf played a bigger role in his life. "I remember when I first started playing golf," Brunell recalls. "I was 9-years-old and I was really enthusiastic about it. I played in the U.S. Junior Golf Association tournaments. I had a starter set of clubs and I had all the gadgets. I played golf all the time. I played a lot of golf with my father and that gave me the chance to spend a lot of quality time with him. At the time, I played all sports. Growing up in California, you played baseball in the spring and summer and basketball in the winter and football in the fall. The great thing about golf was, you could play it all the time. I can remember the excitement I had every time I played as a kid."

As Brunell got older, it became clear that as much as he loved golf, it couldn't compete with his passion for football. "Football has always been the sport I love the most," he says. "As I got into high school, it became the focus of my attention. That became even more intense in college and now, it's my job."

However, there's still a place for golf in Brunell's life.

"I'll always play golf," he says. "Right now, I put the clubs in the closet in August and don't take them out until January. During the season, we only have one day off a week and I spend that time with my family. Down the road, once my football career is over, I can see

myself playing a lot more golf. I can't wait until my children get to an age where they can start playing, then they can play with me like I did with my Dad. That will be great."